Slashdot Mirror
Honeybee Genome Sequenced
mapkinase writes to let us know about articles in Nature on the completed sequencing of the honeybee genome. From the first article: "Two other insects have already been sequenced: the malaria-carrying mosquito Anopheles gambiae, and one of science's great model organisms, the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster. Like these, the bee is much easier to manipulate and study than, say, the monkey. But unlike the mosquito and the fruitfly, the bee's social behavior is of special interest." Another article in the same issue clarifies why this sequencing is important: "The genome is helping to reveal some of those [such as the bees' dance language and the division of labor in the hive] mechanisms. For instance, there are 65 spots in the genome that seem to code for short RNA molecules called microRNAs (miRNAs), molecular switches that can turn genes on or off. The researchers found that miRNA activity differs between bees doing different jobs."
I bet this creates quite a buzz among genome researchers.
And you didn't even get first post :)
Reuters' original online article about this misidentified the queen bee as Queen Elizabeth, stating that Britain's monarch was capable of laying "up to 2,000 eggs a day"o _te.html
they've corrected it, but you can see the original article here:
http://www.regrettheerror.com/2006/10/reuters_typ
Careful! I've heard that bad things happen if you play Region 5 bees (Africa) with Region 2 (Europe) players imported to Region 1.
I understand this is pretty cool, but what could all the buzz bee about?
Gee thanks, now I'm going to spend the rest of the day imagining cows flitting from flower to flower gathering pollen.
KFG
Considering the number of live sacrifices I had to make to ensure the success of my last x86 project, yes, I'd say that sounds reasonable.